Local food helps community to connect

David WeintraubECO

Published: Tuesday, October 16, 2012 at 4:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Monday, October 15, 2012 at 3:16 p.m.

Of the more than 20 different things we grew in our garden this summer, the clear favorite (at least according to my son) was the popcorn. Eating fresh popcorn from our own land made us feel that there wasn’t anything we couldn’t make ourselves.

As a family, we all like to eat good, fresh food, and the most meaningful meals are always those where we can name the farmers, friends and neighbors who contributed to the bounty. Last week, we gave thanks to our own garden for lettuce, arugula and chard, Paul at Holly Spring Farms for our tomatoes, Richard at Good Food Grows Here Farm for our eggs, our neighbor Judy for the sweet potatoes (our own will be ready to dig up soon), Jordan at the Hendersonville Community Co-op for the delicious soup and Wells at Three Arrows Farm for our meat.

Our local tailgate market is not only a great place to buy local food and nosh on a buffet of tasty treats, but it’s also a place to pick up great gardening tips and to get better connected to the community we live in, other shoppers, local farmers, potters, musicians and more. We learn from Greg at Deep Woods Mushrooms about his latest mushroom-hunting adventures, we find out about the apple harvest from Lisa at Laughter Farms, and together we share in the knowledge that we all have a stake in protecting the land that truly is our bread and butter. It also harkens back to earlier days when most everyone grew their own food and often bartered for necessities they couldn’t make themselves.

John Paul Jones, a seventh-generation native in our community, has been collecting photos and stories of Hendersonville’s history for many years. He recalls that many of the old stores weren’t only places to buy food from local farmers, but they also housed a post office, sold many necessities like plumbing parts and tools, and provided goodies for the kids. Stores such as JH Stepp in Dana, Bishop’s (on Sugarloaf Road) and the Fruitland Grocery were gathering places for the community and served as a kind of social network. If you needed to find someone, invariably there was always someone there who knew where that person might be found. Many stores also offered store credit to farmers so they could get through harvest season.

Today supermarkets serve a different role. Five chains control about half the grocery sales in the United States, and the biggest victim of this is the local farmer. As the chains get larger, they purchase from larger and larger processing plants hundreds or thousands of miles away from the communities they serve. As a result, a recent University of Missouri study showed that half a dozen global food chain clusters tied to agribusiness giants dominated the market. Not only were family farmers often cut out of the mix, but the farmers who were left were forced to take bigger and bigger price cuts, making it difficult for them to survive. Today less than 20 cents of every dollar spent at supermarkets for food goes to the farmer.

A study of local businesses vs. chain stores conducted several years ago in several parts of the country found a profound difference in financial benefits to a community. One of the biggest differences was that local independent businesses bought twice as much in local goods and services than did chains and big-box stores. They also kept more of their profits in the local economy and gave more to local charities. A study of small towns in Maine demonstrated that even a small shift toward locally owned businesses could create the economic boost equivalent to attracting a major factory or another large employer. Just think of the difference your food budget could make if you shifted just 5 percent of your dollars to locally owned stores.

Futurists and earth scientists who study resource depletion believe that, at the current rate of human population growth and the steady decline of animals, plants, ocean life, minerals and oil, we would need seven planet Earths to sustain us through the end of the century. Since it’s unlikely we will be able to discover and exploit seven additional habitable planets in that time, it may make sense for us to evaluate our current trajectory of “endless growth” and consider changing course.

Supporting local food and locally owned businesses is a huge step forward, and fortunately our community has incredible resources to tap, from the Curb Market to the Hendersonville Community Co-op, local farm stands and five tailgate markets. The community also has some great resources to help residents learn to become more self-sustaining by growing their own food and making more of their own necessities like the Cooperative Extension and Transition Hendersonville.

ECO holds sustainable living workshops monthly to teach folks important homesteading skills, from building their own solar collectors to learning permaculture gardening. You can learn about creating a rain garden on Nov. 13 and mushroom growing on Dec. 1. For more information, contact ECO at (828) 692-0385 or www.eco-wnc.org.

<p>Of the more than 20 different things we grew in our garden this summer, the clear favorite (at least according to my son) was the popcorn. Eating fresh popcorn from our own land made us feel that there wasn't anything we couldn't make ourselves.</p><p>As a family, we all like to eat good, fresh food, and the most meaningful meals are always those where we can name the farmers, friends and neighbors who contributed to the bounty. Last week, we gave thanks to our own garden for lettuce, arugula and chard, Paul at Holly Spring Farms for our tomatoes, Richard at Good Food Grows Here Farm for our eggs, our neighbor Judy for the sweet potatoes (our own will be ready to dig up soon), Jordan at the Hendersonville Community Co-op for the delicious soup and Wells at Three Arrows Farm for our meat.</p><p>Our local tailgate market is not only a great place to buy local food and nosh on a buffet of tasty treats, but it's also a place to pick up great gardening tips and to get better connected to the community we live in, other shoppers, local farmers, potters, musicians and more. We learn from Greg at Deep Woods Mushrooms about his latest mushroom-hunting adventures, we find out about the apple harvest from Lisa at Laughter Farms, and together we share in the knowledge that we all have a stake in protecting the land that truly is our bread and butter. It also harkens back to earlier days when most everyone grew their own food and often bartered for necessities they couldn't make themselves.</p><p>John Paul Jones, a seventh-generation native in our community, has been collecting photos and stories of Hendersonville's history for many years. He recalls that many of the old stores weren't only places to buy food from local farmers, but they also housed a post office, sold many necessities like plumbing parts and tools, and provided goodies for the kids. Stores such as JH Stepp in Dana, Bishop's (on Sugarloaf Road) and the Fruitland Grocery were gathering places for the community and served as a kind of social network. If you needed to find someone, invariably there was always someone there who knew where that person might be found. Many stores also offered store credit to farmers so they could get through harvest season.</p><p>Today supermarkets serve a different role. Five chains control about half the grocery sales in the United States, and the biggest victim of this is the local farmer. As the chains get larger, they purchase from larger and larger processing plants hundreds or thousands of miles away from the communities they serve. As a result, a recent University of Missouri study showed that half a dozen global food chain clusters tied to agribusiness giants dominated the market. Not only were family farmers often cut out of the mix, but the farmers who were left were forced to take bigger and bigger price cuts, making it difficult for them to survive. Today less than 20 cents of every dollar spent at supermarkets for food goes to the farmer.</p><p>A study of local businesses vs. chain stores conducted several years ago in several parts of the country found a profound difference in financial benefits to a community. One of the biggest differences was that local independent businesses bought twice as much in local goods and services than did chains and big-box stores. They also kept more of their profits in the local economy and gave more to local charities. A study of small towns in Maine demonstrated that even a small shift toward locally owned businesses could create the economic boost equivalent to attracting a major factory or another large employer. Just think of the difference your food budget could make if you shifted just 5 percent of your dollars to locally owned stores.</p><p>Futurists and earth scientists who study resource depletion believe that, at the current rate of human population growth and the steady decline of animals, plants, ocean life, minerals and oil, we would need seven planet Earths to sustain us through the end of the century. Since it's unlikely we will be able to discover and exploit seven additional habitable planets in that time, it may make sense for us to evaluate our current trajectory of “endless growth” and consider changing course.</p><p>Supporting local food and locally owned businesses is a huge step forward, and fortunately our community has incredible resources to tap, from the Curb Market to the Hendersonville Community Co-op, local farm stands and five tailgate markets. The community also has some great resources to help residents learn to become more self-sustaining by growing their own food and making more of their own necessities like the Cooperative Extension and Transition Hendersonville.</p><p>ECO holds sustainable living workshops monthly to teach folks important homesteading skills, from building their own solar collectors to learning permaculture gardening. You can learn about creating a rain garden on Nov. 13 and mushroom growing on Dec. 1. For more information, contact ECO at (828) 692-0385 or www.eco-wnc.org.</p>